where has the oil gone?

[prider]

As mentioned in a previous thread I went on a 6000 mile trip. What a beautiful country. During the trip I had to add 1&1/2 quarts of oil. I immedatily made a 180 mile round trip, off of my planned route, to a dealer and an oil change. Dealer stated no sign of a leak or internal consumation. Upon arrival home I find the oil level is once again below the "add mark". So 2 questions; is this normal for the Rotax engine and if not where oh where has the oil gone?


Ride Smart.....Ride Safe
Tom

 

[napper39]

if you are not cheaking the oil at operationg temp,thats riding it about 20 to 30 mins.then you are over filling it and then the over fill goes in your air box,then you think its low and add more oil that agin goes in your air box.the engine must be at least to 4 bars to check the oil.if thats not the case i dont know.:chat:

 

[btcherm]

oil

found that to be so true.......

 

[prider]

found that to be so true.......

I understand..... when I check the oil the bike has been ridden and in the normal operating range.

 

[napper39]

ok after you get it norm oper.rnage take off the pannel to check the oil and one more time start the engine run for about 3 to 5 min then shut off check the oil this is the right proceadger,if you do it that way you will get the right reading.look in your air box for oil.agin thats all i got.:chat: if you do it that way you got something wrong.:yikes:

 

[flybuddy]

These things do suck oil..Not sure why as a low mileage water cooled engine should not have blow by, etc. Almost makes me wonder if we need a higher viscosity oil.
I changed oil at 600 miles. I put exactly 4.1 qts in and just changed it again at 2500 miles (mainly because I wanted to put the new oil panel on). I did not add any oil from last oil change and I was only able to drain slightly over 3 qts. (filter drainage included).

 

[rcturner]

I just had mine changed at 4800 miles. The oil had 4200 miles since the last change. The oil was only down about 1/16 of an inch on the dipstick. Most of my driving is at highway speeds.

 

[boborgera]

These things do suck oil..Not sure why as a low mileage water cooled engine should not have blow by, etc. Almost makes me wonder if we need a higher viscosity oil.
.

Dry sump engines will blow oil until it seeks it's own oil level.
Especially if you try to keep the level ''right'' at the top of the full line.

 

[warp10]

keep checking the level and don't add oil until it gets to the bottom mark, you may find that it only goes down to a point and stays there. Some engines don't like too much and it will blow it out until it gets down to about the halfway point.

 

[prider]

not clear

keep checking the level and don't add oil until it gets to the bottom mark, you may find that it only goes down to a point and stays there. Some engines don't like too much and it will blow it out until it gets down to about the halfway point.

Sorry Iwas not clear enough. The level after checking by book recommended procedure is none on the dip stick. The first time it took 1& 1/2 quarts to bring the level to mid point on the dip stick. I am curious if this is a natural occurance in the Rotax engine. If so I need to carry oil and check the level more often. If I am loosing 1&1/2 quarts on a motor with app. 3500 miles, will it only get worst?


Be Smart....Ride Safe
Tom

 

[CyncySpyder]

We've found, after 32,000 miles that this is in fact ... 'normal'

Sorry Iwas not clear enough. The level after checking by book recommended procedure is none on the dip stick. The first time it took 1& 1/2 quarts to bring the level to mid point on the dip stick. I am curious if this is a natural occurance in the Rotax engine. If so I need to carry oil and check the level more often. If I am loosing 1&1/2 quarts on a motor with app. 3500 miles, will it only get worst? e Smart....Ride Safe Tom

I'm not an engine or tech guy, just a daily chauffeur for Teds Red Sled (2011 RT-S) and we've just clicked over 32K miles yesterday & he has me do all the oil changes and I've witnessed first hand what your experiencing to be true for us as well.

On our 1800 mile trip a couple weeks ago to SITA, we also had to add a little over a quart to bring it back to full. Only have a slight telling of oil in the airbox, so thats not where its going, and there are no apparent oil leaks either. So, for what its worth, in our experiences so far, this is just par for the course with this Rotax Engine in a Spyder :thumbup:

:bowdown:I'm sure Scotty or one of the more knowledgeable engine gurus can better explain why this is so:dontknow:

 

[murphybrown]

I am definitely not one of the more knowledgable....

But what I do know is that I always have extra oil on board along with funnel for adding. It is common knowledge that Spyders use oil/like oil/want oil checked REGULARLY...I have talked to those much more Spyder engine savvy than me (my knowledge grade is a 0!!)..assure me that my Spyder is normal..On my recent Spring trip (almost 12k) I had 1 oil change done and used 1 qt. and 4 oz...to keep "her" at level where she is happiest!!! So like today I am headed out for an all day ryde...checked oil level yesterday (right where it needs to be) BUT I still have that extra oil/funnel packed on Ms Spyder...just in case!!! Actually I always have extra oil with me!!! Everyone have a great day and Labor Day Weekend...fall is in the air..wow only a couple more months of ryding left for this season...but I got my maps and books ready (thanks to AAA freebies!!) for planning my trip next Spring to SE USA (after Spyderfest 2013)...OK gotta figure out what temps I will be hitting today...right now 52 degrees at my house but headed to higher elevation...and predicted temps around 80's down here...NICE...of course I never have had a bad weather day when it comes to ryding...Proper clothes and the stability of the Spyder are a winning combination for a successful ryde. :yes::yes:

 

[prider]

Air Box ?

I'm not an engine or tech guy, just a daily chauffeur for Teds Red Sled (2011 RT-S) and we've just clicked over 32K miles yesterday & he has me do all the oil changes and I've witnessed first hand what your experiencing to be true for us as well.

On our 1800 mile trip a couple weeks ago to SITA, we also had to add a little over a quart to bring it back to full. Only have a slight telling of oil in the airbox, so thats not where its going, and there are no apparent oil leaks either. So, for what its worth, in our experiences so far, this is just par for the course with this Rotax Engine in a Spyder :thumbup:

:bowdown:I'm sure Scotty or one of the more knowledgeable engine gurus can better explain why this is so:dontknow:

O.K. I'm going to admit my lack of mechanical issues....But what is an Air Box, how does oil get into it and if there is oil in the air box will this have an effect on how the motor performes? Seems like I read somewhere that proper procedures for changing the oil is critical. Over filling the oil can do damage to the engine.

Tom

 

[boborgera]

O.K. I'm going to admit my lack of mechanical issues....But what is an Air Box, how does oil get into it and if there is oil in the air box will this have an effect on how the motor performes? Seems like I read somewhere that proper procedures for changing the oil is critical. Over filling the oil can do damage to the engine.

Tom

The air box, [housing] is a large black plastic box with an air filter in it on the top of the engine.
Oil in it [blow by] really doesn't hurt anything except too much will drip out of the bottom of the box and make a mess, Most of the time if its blowing just a little it will go though the throttle body's and the engine will burn it with out any harm, And if you run over 6 thousand rpm more than 10% of the time some oil in the box is normal. But in any case OVER filling should be avoided!!

 

[boborgera]

And just to add, The level on the dip stick should be [when checked by the book] Half way between the low mark and the high mark,. It is not necessary to keep it at the high mark, most of the times at that level a few Ounce's will just go out the throttle bodys.

 

[flybuddy]

Dry sump engines will blow oil until it seeks it's own oil level.
Especially if you try to keep the level ''right'' at the top of the full line.

In my case I put exactly 4.1 qts in at 600 mile oil change and never added any oil. I didn't even check the oil level after initial fill as I was blindly confident that a new engine which is not leaking would not burn any substantial oil. At 2500 miles it was down almost a quart. There's no way to point to a dipstick mistake, owner error, etc in this scenario. I guess the oil consumption is in line with the fuel consumption.

 

[Campverdefela]

And just to add, The level on the dip stick should be [when checked by the book] Half way between the low mark and the high mark,. It is not necessary to keep it at the high mark, most of the times at that level a few Ounce's will just go out the throttle bodys.

:agree:I always wondered about the oil use. My 09 GS is not as bad as some of you, using about 1/2qt. by 2 or 3 thaousand miles. Knowing what mine uses I generally check and top up at 2 thousand miles and don't worry about it til the next change.

 

[Chazzman]

My RT never used a drop... Of course it only had 3100 miles when I sold it but not a drop